Jose And Maria – Tropical Update

Hurricane Jose continues to be a bit of a threat for the Northeast coast of the United States. I say a "bit of a threat" because the forecast track for the system does not bring it directly onshore. However, it does keep this wind, wave, and rainmaker close enough to the coastline to create issues.

Jose is expected to continue a northerly motion from its current location of 365 miles south of Nantucket Island. The system will slowly travel in a more northeasterly direction over the next several days. It is also forecast to weaken to a tropical storm and then dive back down to the south. So, it could be just off the coast of New England through the weekend.

The greatest threat from Jose at this time appears to be beach erosion and rip currents along the shore. There will also be some gusty winds and some heavy rain squalls making their way onshore as well.

nhc.noaa.gov

Major Hurricane Maria is the second category 5 storm in the tropical Atlantic Basin this month. It is unfortunately in the same basic location as the last category 5 storm Irma. Maria is lashing the islands of the Lesser Antilles this morning and is expected to move to the northwest over the next several days.

This track forecast puts the center of the storm over the island of Puerto Rico by Wednesday afternoon. The system should slide just north of the Dominican Republic and then take a more northerly turn by Friday.